


Pinky Promise

by sansasnarks



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Family Bonding, Family Feels, Sibling Bonding, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26783416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sansasnarks/pseuds/sansasnarks
Summary: Luther never thinks about Number Seven. Except for when she gets upset, and he knows it's because of him. For the first time in twelve years, his sister is taking up more than an afterthought in his mind, and Luther isn't a fan.Written for TUActober day 3: pinky promise.
Relationships: Luther Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 7
Kudos: 53





	Pinky Promise

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for totallyevan's TUActober challenge - Day 3: Pinky Promise. It originally supposed to be a headcanon but turned into a short fic! I had fun writing it, so hope you enjoy it. :)

Luther was doing push-ups in his room when Number Seven quietly entered his room. He continued, at first, annoyed that she had decided to walk in on him and even more annoyed that she just seemed fine just _standing_ there, staring. It was unnerving, how she could simultaneously be quiet and overwhelming all at once. He counted to his one-thousandth push-up and stopped, sighing as he got up and fixed her with a glare. 

"What, Number Seven?" he asked, and she blinked, as if she had been surprised that he had acknowledged her. 

"I...chose my name," she said, and Luther arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue. She looked down at the floor and mumbled out a name, and Luther wrinkled his forehead in confusion.

"Amya?" he asked, looking at his sister.

 _"Vanya,"_ his sister corrected, louder this time. She was staring at him now and even had the nerve to seem irritated by him. It wasn't _his_ fault that she couldn't figure out how to speak with confidence. 

"Right," he said, and he nodded, locking eyes with her. "Nice name. Russian?" 

She looked down at the floor and shrugged, any of the previous confidence seemingly gone. With that, she was out of his room, as quietly as she had appeared. Luther looked briefly at the spot where his sister had been before going back to the floor, ready to do more push-ups. 

* * *

It wasn't until the next week that he had talked to his sister again. They had been at the dinner table and Mom was off grabbing some extra water, and Luther had asked, "Seven, pass the salt." 

"Vanya," came Ben's voice, and Luther looked incredulously at his usually quiet brother. 

"What?" he asked, and his other siblings shifted their focus towards him, ever-so-slightly, though Klaus was still rolling his joint under the table and Ben hadn't ripped his eyes from his book.

"He said, her name is _Vanya,"_ came Five's all too self-righteous voice. "Not _Seven."_

Vanya's head was bowed, refusing to look up at the scene unfolding before her, but Luther could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile on her face. 

"Well, Five -" he started back, just as self-righteously, but his father interrupted. 

"Enough," his father said, cutting through the conversation. "One, Five, Six, Seven, the dinner table is not for petty arguments. I will not stand for this at my table." 

Five glared at their father, but Luther and the rest of his siblings quickly apologized. Vanya's voice was quiet, and Luther looked over at her. She was picking at the food, the glimpse of happiness gone and replaced with her usual default sad look. Something about it bothered him but he couldn't figure it out. Luther stared at his plate for the rest of dinner trying to figure it out. 

* * *

After dinner, his sister disappeared into her room, and Luther followed behind her. She turned before he could knock (he supposed he wasn't as quiet as she was), the surprise on her face evident when she saw Luther there. 

Luther wasn't even sure why he was there. He had just seen her face in his mind, smiling at the defense, and it had stuck with him through all of dinner. 

"Does it bother you if I call you Seven?" he asked. 

She shook her head no, and Luther narrowed his eyes. 

"You're lying to me," he said. "You _do_ mind." 

She looked at him quickly before looking down. "It's okay," she mumbled. "It's fine to call me that too." 

Luther would get called One and Luther an equal amount of times. His siblings would say Luther, but Dad would always call them numbers (he had wondered for a moment if Dad even _knew_ their real names, but thinking about that only served to frustrate him so he had stopped - besides, of course Dad knew their names; it was stupid to think otherwise). Luther was fine with it. But he also supposed that it was really only Dad and the papers that would call him One, everyone else had fallen into the habit of saying _Luther,_ except for when Diego wanted to get under his skin. 

Maybe that's what Vanya had thought, that he was trying to single her out, to get under _her_ skin. He wanted to explain that he hadn't meant to, that he didn't think about her enough to even want to bother her and that this was probably the most Vanya had ever occupied his thoughts in their entire twelve years of life. It sounded harsh even to him, though, so instead he said, "I'm Number One. I'm supposed to take care of you."

It wasn't a lie, really. Vanya may not have been a fighter but she was still part of the family, and as Number One he needed to keep everyone safe. He guessed she wasn't _unsafe_ , but she had a sad expression on her face and it made him feel the same way he did whenever a criminal would shoot at his other siblings on a mission. It was usually Dad putting that expression on Vanya's face (not on purpose, obviously, but still) and now Luther had done it, and now he was _thinking_ about it and her and it was frustrating. He was hit with the need to get rid of the look, if even for a moment. He could do that and then walk out of the room and proceed to not think about Vanya again. 

"I'll call you Vanya from now on," he added.

The unsaid apology hung in the air, and Luther shifted his feet, wanting to leave but knowing he couldn't as long as Vanya was still staring at the floor with her sad expression. 

"You will?" Vanya finally asked, cutting through the awkward silence. 

"Yeah," Luther said. He took a step towards her, trying not to flinch when she took a half step back, still never looking at her. He hesitated and stopped. "I always will," he said, leaning over as close as he could and extending his pinky towards her. He had seen Mom and Diego do their little pinky promises from time to time and he wasn't sure it would work with Vanya, but it was better than nothing. "Pinky promise." 

The silence that followed went on for so long that Luther's arm twitched and he wondered if he should just deal with the embarrassment, count this mission as a failure and return to his room. It wasn't like Vanya was going to say anything anyway. He was thinking to himself that he'd give her five more seconds, Vanya looked up at him. She was staring at his pinky finger, her expression...not happy, but not sad either. Luther thought it seemed almost hopeful. He could take that, a semi-hopeful expression. 

"Pinky promise," Vanya repeated solemnly, slowly reaching out her hand and entwining her pinky around his. 


End file.
